The Downing legends : Stories in Rhyme The witch of Shiloh, the last of the Wampanoags, the gentle earl, the enchanted voyage |
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 | The Downing legends : Stories in Rhyme |  |
XXII
“An' right among the raree-shows,
Two youngling men an' one young woman,
(Arrayed in go-to-meetin' close),
So hansome they were skussly human;
The Flyin' Dutchman's near relations,
Who shooken hands an' offered cheers
With such a buzz of salutations
As ruther stumped our Yankee ears.
Two youngling men an' one young woman,
(Arrayed in go-to-meetin' close),
So hansome they were skussly human;
The Flyin' Dutchman's near relations,
Who shooken hands an' offered cheers
With such a buzz of salutations
As ruther stumped our Yankee ears.
The christenins were Dutch to me,
An' drefful tough to spell, I reckon.
The skipper interduced; says he,
‘My name is Hendrick Vanderdecken;
My cousins are these other two;
The first is Dircksen Vanderdryfe;
The other, Arendt Vanderloo,
And this, Cornelie, is his wifey.’—
Or so I understood the titles,
Although, perhaps, I've missed the spellin';
For Dutch is spoken from the vitals
An' hard to write beyond all tellin.’”
An' drefful tough to spell, I reckon.
The skipper interduced; says he,
‘My name is Hendrick Vanderdecken;
My cousins are these other two;
The first is Dircksen Vanderdryfe;
The other, Arendt Vanderloo,
181
Or so I understood the titles,
Although, perhaps, I've missed the spellin';
For Dutch is spoken from the vitals
An' hard to write beyond all tellin.’”
| The Downing legends : Stories in Rhyme | |